 Graphics could use improvement
 Lots of Trial and Error portions
 Repetitive music

Grade

C+

Rather than letting Wolverine's Revenge ride on just
the strength of the comic book license alone (because apparently
Wolverine isn't popular enough), Activision tried to tie it
in with the upcoming X-Men movie sequel. What this game has
to do with the movie.... well, outside of Hugh Jackman on
the cover and X2 in the name, I don't know. The story behind
Wolverine's Revenge begins with Wolverine breaking
out of the Weapon X program that made him the "man"
he is today. On his way out, he finds out that a fail-safe
virus has been planted inside him known as the Shiva Virus.
Some time later, after years with the X-Men, Wolverine discovers
that the Shiva Virus has become active and he has 48 hours
to find the cure.

The core of the gameplay is based on Wolverine's innate abilities
and fans of the comics will be pleased at what GenePool has
given them. With the White Button, players can pop and sheathe
Wolverine's claws. While you'd think you'd want his claws
out all the time, Wolverine's healing ability can only be
used when his claws are put away. The X button throws punches
and the Y button kicks. The A button allows you to jump and
the B button performs Strike attacks, which add a great bit
to the game. At certain points in a fight, players can initiate
Strikes to perform scripted combos depending on how many enemies
are within striking distance. You can also pick up enemies
and throw them. At the end of each section, you'll be given
a score, which goes toward unlocking more Strike moves.

Along with the standard fighting Strikes, Wolverine can perform
Stealth Strikes, which allow you to sneak around and attack
enemies without settling off alarms. Hitting the Left Trigger
will initiate Wolverine's special senses, which is helpful
in tracking footsteps, seeing in dark areas and track the
scents of nearby guards. The Right Trigger allows you to crouch
and perform a sneaking run. Along with a health gauge, Wolverine
also has a Rage gauge, which fills during combat. Once it
tops off, Wolverine will go into a Berserker Rage, which will
allow you to tear through your opponents. You can also initiate
this prematurely by double-tapping the White Button. During
the game, you'll be able to find Cerebro files and Comic Book
covers (which allow you to switch Wolverine's costume).

Wolverine's Revenge does manage to deliver a style
that feels pulled straight from the comics. The notable characters
(including Sabretooth, Beast, Colossus and the Juggernaut)
all have a sharp look to them, even if a lot of the character
models look somewhat blocky. The NPCs have some decent detail
but you'll find a lot of the enemies look the same, so much
so that you'll feel like you're beating up on the same two
or three enemies throughout each stage. The levels are sizable,
but seem to lack in overall detail and suffer from some blurry
and uninteresting textures and weak lighting effects. The
graphics package is never really bad in any aspect, but it
doesn't do much to draw you any further into the game that
the comic-book premise does.

The audio package is rather hit and miss. With Mark Hamill
as Wolverine and Patrick Stewart as Professor X, the main
characters are voice acted fairly well. Unfortunately, though,
the NPC voice acting is pretty plain and uninteresting. On
top of that, a number of the NPC lines get repeated so much
you may think that only one or two lines were actually recorded.
The music is noticeably dramatic, but seems to be repeated
so much it loses its punch. Fortunately, the game supports
the custom soundtrack feature, so you can switch over to something
you actually want to listen to.

While Wolverine's Revenge does manage to get the comic-book
feel down pat, it does manage to miss the mark on a number
of things. A lot of the levels suffer from trial and error
gameplay, where you have to do a series of things correctly
or else you're forced to start over at the beginning of the
level. While this might be okay for two or three tries, some
stages may take a lot of tries before you get through, leading
to excessive frustration. Also, Wolverine's claws seem a lot
less effective than they should be. Even standard enemies
take a number of blows to drop. Because of that, you'll find
the game proves to be difficult by means of having to duke
it out with just about every smalltime minion you run across.
Throw in an in-game camera that needs constant attention and
still manages to find itself in the wrong place and only the
heartiest Wolverine fans may stick around to the end.

It's obvious that Wolverine's Revenge benefits from
having a great license. Without it, the game is fairly average
and mostly forgettable. Wolverine's Revenge does good
at capturing the comic book feel well, but the overall frustration
behind the gameplay may take away from the enjoyment of the
game. If you can live with the game's flaws, you'll most likely
enjoy yourself.

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